Arizona News

Ducey follows opioid crisis declaration with reporting order

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has followed a statewide opioid health emergency declaration with an order requiring state health officials to mandate additional overdose reporting.

Ducey said when he declared the emergency last week that he wanted the Department of Health Services to collect more information on overdoses and related deaths and do it in real time, so Tuesday's order was not unexpected. The new order requires medical professionals including doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, ambulance firms and local medical examiners to report opioid overdoses within 24 hours. Law enforcement and social service agencies also are included.

Currently, much of the data the department collects is up to a year old.

The order also requires reporting of births involving opioid exposure and uses of an opioid antidote known as naloxone.